Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Tracee Marie Deane Jailed Over False Allegations

The sentence was too harsh. That is what this lady's husband thinks. Gee, would the years that the falsely accused would have gotten been "too harsh," sir? To falsely accuse someone who is mentally impaired is about as low as I've seen in this arena.

What I do find very surprising is the length of the sentence. New Zealand isn't known for very harsh punishments towards women. I would hazard to guess that if it were just the false sexual assault allegation, the sentence would have been less severe.

Wellington, April 15 NZPA - A Nelson woman has been jailed after instigating false accusations of sexual assault against a mentally impaired man.

Tracee Marie Deane, a 39-year-old mother and stepmother of five, was yesterday sentenced to two years eight months in prison after admitting a number of charges, including conspiring to bring a false accusation, fraud and theft, the Nelson Mail reported.

The false accusation charge related to an incident in May last year when Deane and her daughter were at the library with a friend when they saw a mentally impaired man with whom Deane had bad blood.

They called police and said the man had grabbed Deane's daughter's breasts and groped her. The man was arrested and charged with indecent assault.

Police began to have doubts as security camera footage at the library failed to back up the story.

Deane's daughter and her friend, who was also mentally impaired, were re-interviewed and both said the woman had told them to lie.

Judge Tony Zohrab said the serious nature of Deane's offending meant a sentence of over two years was warranted.

Her dishonesty offences were against other vulnerable people and included stealing from a woman in a community home.